Different government ministries have started a new drive to promote sports among the youth by setting up infrastructure such as playgrounds in each cell countrywide. This was disclosed at a news conference held in Kigali on Thursday jointly organised by the Ministry of Youth and ICT, that of Local government, Defense and Rwanda National Police. The conference was called to brief journalists on the special community work scheduled to take place countrywide starting today. Jean Philbert Nsengimana, the Minister for Youth and ICT, said community work is one of the ways to engage youth productively. “We have always been criticised for the absence of sports infrastructure to help build talent among our youth. While we want to have a happy generation, I hope sports will be among the important tools to make them happy beyond bringing them together,” he said. Vincent Munyeshyaka, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, said opening playgrounds in all cells countrywide will strengthen good governance. “With many people participating in sports activities, this will be an opportunity to improve their peer cooperation since sports brings people together. They can share different ideas on governance and sort out some problems together as they do after the monthly community work (Umuganda),” Munyeshyaka said. For Edouard Kalisa, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Sports and Culture, playgrounds at cell level will positively impact youth development. There are more than 2,000 administrative cells in the country. He said, “Sport is one of the key elements which can shape youth behaviour because youth in sport cannot venture into unlawful activities such as drug abuse and trafficking. Rather, they will contribute actively to different development activities.”
